Restaurant Arras (Modern British) - Walsh Bay

Some restaurants have a way of winning you back after an unsatisfactory situation, as I discovered many moons ago. At this particular bistro in the north-western part of Sydney, we waited for our meals for a very long time, and after they eventually came, were so substandard I wrote a letter of complaint the next day. Within a week, a grovelling letter of apology from the manager and a $50 gift voucher arrived in the mail; my partner at the time dubbed it "Complain and win", and win we did.

On this occasion however, it wasn't really an unsatisfactory situation; it was more an unfortunate situation regarding a dessert where the chocolate failed to set. As it was a dessert which required twenty-five minutes to prepare, its failure led to K to become increasingly agitated, and he's not the most patient at the best of times. We did not complain, but much to the restaurant's credit, they allowed K to select a different dessert at no charge, and won us over by producing the earlier failed dessert afterwards free of charge. Therefore, we ended up getting three fantastic desserts for the price of one; win, win indeed!

The restaurant in question is the one-hatted Restaurant Arras, a place we only dined at late last year (previous post here). We had the degustation at the time and some of the dishes so wowed us, it was a simple choice to return when we found ourselves in the area again for a matinee show at the nearby Sydney Theatre Company. This time however, we opted for the a la carte menu, as the degustation menu was unchanged from our last visit.

The menu at Restaurant Arras is purposely obtuse, with dishes such as 'Tails of a Feather' and 'Beef with Richard Guest' listed without accompanying explanations perplexing the diner. All courses therefore require explanation from the waitstaff, who are more than willing to unleash their inner foodie.

Amuse bouche - chilled beetroot soup with goat's cheese and creme fraiche

Receiving an amuse bouche is always welcome, and on this occasion we are served a chilled beetroot soup with goat's cheese and creme fraiche. It was a refreshing (and pretty) start, with the balance of the sweet beetroot soup and the quite tart goat's cheese. It was a good dish to stimulate our palates.

Birds of a Feather - $28

My 'Tails of a Feather' is a rather unusual name for this dish, especially as it turns out to be guineafowl done several ways. I have never eaten guineafowl, but I knew it was a bird of some description. The dish is amazingly presented, and the main part of the dish is the terrine, served at room temperature, which is comprised of four layers: pressed guineafowl on the bottom, followed by a layer of leeks, then a layer of guineafowl breast cooked sous vide, and finally a layer of chicory on top. The textures were great, with each of the layers delicious on their own, and the combination was compelling. The puree smear tasted like aubergine and was something called parkin, which I've been unable to find anywhere. There was guineafowl jelly as well, but I couldn't tell which it was. The little sultana-like yellow drops scattered on the plate could be the guineafowl jelly I suppose; these were sweet and balanced the saltiness of the terrine and the mysterious parkin.

Seafood "cassoulet" MKII - $28.50

K's cassoulet was the second reincarnation of this dish on their menu (and hence the MKII), and is deconstructed with each piece of seafood individually presented on the plate. This work of art comprised of a crumbed then deep-fried oyster, prawns, scallops, and cockles. Dabs of an unknown puree were traced across the plate and a few clouds of an unknown foam sat lightly on bits of the seafood. I had the oyster (K doesn't eat them) and found the coating light and the oyster fresh. The other components were tasty also but I did not have enough to pass comment, although K was a little diffident about his entree.

After a while, the mains arrived, and we were once again impressed by the creativity and presentation.

Snapper, Potato Napoleon, Cockles - $42

My snapper was a huge chunk of fish unusually presented like a swollen butterfly. There was skin on the fish which was lovely and crispy, and the flesh was beautifully firm and tasty.  I did find one small bone but I quickly removed it and set it aside. The foam on the middle portion did not taste of anything to me but I guessed it was the same foam covering the cockles. The fish sat on a few batons of crumbed asparagus, which I really liked. The potato napoleon was whimsically done, presented like a napoleon cake, but with potatoes. Three wonderfully thin crisps of potatoes sandwiched double-layered waves of mash, and it tasted really scrumptious. There were three cockles as well, although there weren't enough flesh on these to warrant their inclusion in my opinion, and were probably used for presentation and their texture only.

Beef with Richard Guest - $48

K's beef was simply presented but done three ways, with a plump steak, two balls of faggots on a bed of spinach, and a ravioli. The poor waiter got a little embarrassed describing to us the faggots, and it's the first time we've encountered them. They are little meatballs made from mince and offal and wrapped in caul fat, and they were unusual but in a good tasty way. I only tasted a little of the steak and ravioli but I enjoyed the morsels I sampled. Bizarrely, this beef dish was accompanied by an ox tail 'tea', which was rather intriguing to say the least. The ox tail was in a teabag and after the hot water was added, the resulting tea was like a consomme. The waiter said it was sipped to cut down the richness of the beef on the plate, but with more beef!

Ox tail 'tea'

Having tasted two of the restaurant's desserts in the degustation on our previous visit, we wanted to try the others, and so I ordered the 'A Bombe' (which is not a Bombe Alaska as I incorrectly assumed) and K the 'Coulant au Chocolat - Michel Bras', which as mentioned previously, takes 25 minutes to prepare. When we were given the sad news of the coulant's failure, K ordered the 'Banana in Pyjamas', which is a dessert we had and enjoyed last time.

Pre-dessert - melon and rosewater jelly

Firstly, we were given a pre-dessert of palate-cleansing melon and rosewater jelly, which was so refreshing. The combination tasted a little of lychee, so I guess the rosewater component was more dominant. Still, it was very good.

A Bombe - $17

I was very impressed by my dessert's presentation, especially the amazingly delicate spun toffee. The toffee was like an incredible nest that circled the chocolate-covered ice cream dome as it spiralled towards the heavens; it was certainly too pretty to eat. But eat it I did, and it was delicious. The hazelnut ice cream was encased by a solid chocolate dome with sprinkles of candied hazelnuts and Frangelico and lime, and it tasted a little like a refined Magnum ice cream. Together with the spun toffee, it was a delightful dessert, and rather large too.

Bananas in Pyjamas - $17

The replacement 'Bananas in Pyjamas' was just like last time, with small cubes of fried banana together with chocolate sticks and other bits and pieces. I didn't get to taste any but K said it was better than last time.

Coulant au Chocolat - Michel Bras - $18.50

After three decent-sized courses, we were on the precipice of fullness. As we contemplated the amazing petits fours selection about to come, we were served the hitherto unsuccessful Coulant au Chocolat, much to our surprise and slight apprehension. From a quick search on the internet afterwards, Michel Bras is a famous French chef who has a signature dessert of chocolate coulant, and this one (visually at least) appeared to be a good replica. It is like a chocolate fondant, with a cylinder of chocolate pudding and a scoop of ice cream on top (sorry, I didn't get the flavour but it tasted again like vanilla). The shell broke very easily to reveal the lovely and light pudding inside, and we gobbled up every mouthful despite our stomachs' protestations.

Petits fours platter

Better (or worse, depending on you look at it) yet, during the extra coulant course, we were brought over the magnificent petits fours platter, and once again we were bowled over by the incredible selection. Unfortunately, I was so full I could not even manage one piece (but I did manage to scrabble together a few bad photos of the platter), and even K could manage only two pieces, both marshmallows. It was a little unfortunate that between us we could only manage a few petits fours, but we were more than happy to have had the coulant.

Once again, we staggered out at the end of a long meal, fully satisfied by the creative food from Adam Humphrey, even if K was a little annoyed by the lengthy wait between courses. We were slightly worried that being a Saturday night , there was only sparse patronage (about half the restaurant was filled), despite it also being a theatre-going night. The UK-centric food and service here at Restaurant Arras deserves a much wider audience, especially when the chef puts so much effort into sourcing such unusual ingredients as guineafowl. Hopefully, it will still be around next time we revisit Walsh Bay, as it is a fine restaurant more than worthy of its Good Food Guide one-hatted status. It not only serves great Modern British fare with humour and style, it does so with keeping the diner happy and full, a respectable combination.

What we liked: ambience, artwork on a plate, eccentric ingredients, diner satisfaction

Favourite dish: Birds of a Feather

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Satay Inn (Malaysian/Chinese/Thai) - Kingsgrove

It's always hard to know what to eat after sitting more than three hours in a movie theatre, especially when the movie is the vibrant Toy Story 1 & 2 (in 3D, yeah!), but we knew we wanted something quick, cheap, and open at 5p.m.

There wasn't much on the way home that appealed (or open), so we took a small detour through Kingsgrove to Satay Inn, a small Chinese-Malaysian eatery that is listed in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2010 as one of the South's 'Global Gems'. You would not know it though as there is no sticker or display on the window which lists its achievement, as some other restaurants have. There is however a yellowing page of a review by the Sydney Morning Herald's Helen Greenwood from last year which has been haphazardly affixed to the front window, so they must be pleased. Publicity hungry they are obviously not.

What makes a restaurant worthy of inclusion in the guide as a full entry rather than just a small snippet? Is it the food? Popularity? Decor? Service? The chef's pedigree? All of the above? With Satay Inn, it's certainly not the decor or the ambience, as it resembles countless Chinese eateries all over Sydney: cheap tables and chairs, cutlery and chopsticks in containers at the tables, and hand-written specials in fluorescent cardboard attached to the walls with blu-tack. It does try to sparkle the place a little though, with Chinese character scrolls and artwork containing the obligatory goldfish, lotus pond, mountains, bamboos, or all of the above. Hopefully the food is what earned this little strip restaurant a place in the Sydney food bible.

The menu is fairly extensive but nothing Asians are not accustomed to. What is a little puzzling is the presence of Thai dishes like pad thai and curries. It's a small selection dominated by the mainly Chinese menu, but it's still rather incongruous. Perhaps the absence of a proximal Thai eatery is a factor in their inclusion.

We decided for once to skip entrees (the usual boring spring rolls, dim sims, et cetera), and instead order two mains and a plate of stir-fried mixed vegetables.

With the menus barely leaving our grasps, we can already hear the clang and bash of woks and pans as our meals were whipped up in a devilish whirl by the kitchen. And not long after, my salt and pepper pork fillets with rice was placed in front of me.

Salt & pepper pork ribs and rice - $7

The dish looks quite good, as some effort has been put into its presentation, which is quite rare for something inexpensive. It's not inspiring by any means, but at least they tried. There is a lettuce leaf with large, long slices of cucumber and tomato neatly arranged, with a big mound of rice and the pork fillets heaped to the side.

The pork fillets are good, with the salt and pepper balanced. There's no chilli kick though which is a shame, despite the few pieces of red pepper promising much. The coating on the pork is not too crunchy, which is good, as too often with salt and pepper (insert protein here), there is excessive flour used. It was a good dish and you get a lot of pork for the price you pay.

Sizzling satay lamb - $10.80

The sizzling satay lamb came out soon after on a sizzling hotplate, and unfortunately, as the old waiter tried to manoeuvre it on our table, he touched the hotplate and let out a small yelp. Not a really good impression to make.

The lamb was very tender in that Chinese macerated kind of way and the satay sauce was tasty. There was a heaping of onions and bean sprouts as well, giving the dish a good textural crunch. The whole dish was balanced quite well and was above average.

Stir fried mixed vegetables - $8

Our side of vegetables was a lot larger than we had thought, and there was a lot more garlic than we had thought! There wasn't much to it because it was largely uninspired in terms of variety, with choy sum, bok choy, broccoli, baby corn, one or two slices of carrot, and a few button mushrooms forming the dish. We were surprised there wasn't any red capsicums to brighten up the dish further, nor bean sprouts or cabbage to cheapen the dish, but it was good to have vegetables never the less.

We were quite full by the end of it all, even being unable to polish off the vegetables. The dishes are large and very reasonably priced, as you would expect of such an unprepossessing eatery, so it was certainly value for money in a fill-you-up sort of way. Even if we had room for dessert, we would not have bothered. Only fried ice cream or ice cream with topping were on offer, so it wasn't even worth the effort; I think their inclusion are to appease the parents of recalcitrant children.

Unusually though, we were given a plate of oranges as a palate cleanser, like they do in larger Chinese restaurants (usually with watermelon). This was a welcome touch in such a small eatery.

Overall, Satay Inn is a good place to enjoy a cheap, quick, and above average Chinese meal. There is nothing noteworthy about the food, decor, service, or ambience, but it obviously does enough for it be judged worthy of inclusion in the latest Good Food Guide.

What we liked: open at 5p.m., very cheap, very quick service, complimentary plate of orange

Favourite dish: salt and pepper pork ribs

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Subsolo (Spanish/Portuguese) - Sydney

On a rare Friday off for K, we needed a special place to dine; it would be such a waste not to enjoy a gastronomic feast on a bright summer's day right? Settling on the wonderfully vibrant lunch degustation at Bentley Bar & Restaurant, we were unfortunately apprised of their current renovation (unusually not mentioned on their website). Therefore, we needed inspiration, and that inspiration came when we watched the raging bull that is Rafael Nadal dismantle another hapless opponent at the Australian Open.

Spanish is not a cuisine I'm very familiar with, but I'm not sure of the reasons for my diffidence. Every chance I've had of eating Spanish food, I've mostly brushed it off, even though I generally enjoy tapas and other Spanish delights such as chorizo, jamon, and various seafood. Perhaps there were always 'better' options available or I'm not as adventurous as I think I am. In any case, we made a decision to try Subsolo in the centre of town after reading favourable reviews.

Subsolo is located on King Street just a stone throw's away from Sydney's oldest church, St. James. It is a basement restaurant which has an unprepossessing entrance and signage, and it is easily missed as there is a restaurant next to Subsolo's entrance. However, once you descend the two flights of stairs into the dining room, you are greeted by a stunningly beautiful space worthy of the Spanish king himself.

The room is dark and moody as is the furniture, but it is perfectly lit by chic lights, downlights, and lamps. There are splashes of red everywhere: on light fixtures, the lush carpet, and gossamer drapes. The walls are mainly brickwork but it works so well as it provides a lighter balance to the overall darkness. It reminded me of a stylish and opulent Spanish bordello fused with the hipness of a New York bar; the only thing missing were the ladies and thick accents. It is definitely one of my favourite dining rooms in Sydney, so much so that I took more photos of the room than I did of the food.

Drooling over decor is probably not a good thing, so back to the food. The menu is fairly extensive and is split into Spanish and Portugese sections. The Spanish part consists of From The Deli, Chicken Beef & Pork Tapas, Vegetarian Tapas, Seafood Tapas, and Spanish Paella, with all but the paellas being available in tapas size or entree size. The Portugese part is espetada or meat skewers served Portugese style. There are also two degustation courses (six courses for $60 per person or seven courses for $75 per person) as well as a nice range of desserts.

Wanting a small lunch but also wanting to sample a lot of food is a slight contradiction, but it is easily achievable with tapas. Initially, we had wanted to try their delicious sounding Paella Valenciana, but were informed it takes around forty-five to fifty minutes to prepare. I am glad they prepare it fresh, but it obviously isn't a dish for lunch; how many people have over an hour for lunch? Not many I would assume. Anyway, we were happy to settle for a few tapas and decided on four.

Paprika salt and pepper squid with saffron mayonnaise - $14

The squid came first and were lightly coated in paprika and were tender and delicious. There were a few bits of octopus too which I really enjoy munching on. The garlic mayonnaise was not really necessary but it did provide a good tang.

Chicken chorizo with caramelised eschallots - $14

The chicken chorizo came in a small bowl and was scrumptious. With the small amount of caramelised eschallots, it tasted like the thin slices of sausage were coated in a refined barbecue sauce and these were so moreish.

Crumbed meatballs with melting Manchego cheese centres in Romesco sauce - $18

The meatballs were lightly crumbed and had a gooey Manchego cheese centre which was surprisingly light. The mince was beautifully cooked and the Romesco sauce gave a good kick to the meat.

Pork tenderloin rolled with Morcilla and pistachios on Calvados spiced apples - $18

The last dish was my choice and it sounded interesting, as I love rolled pork and pistachios. These were very tasty with the Morcilla (Spanish blood pudding) adding an earthiness to the dish. The spiced apples were more sweet than spicy and were a good complement to the savoury pork and Morcilla.

When we riffled through the menu earlier, we noticed the enticing range of desserts and made it a point not to be too full with the tapas. Luckily, we were very much in the mood for some sweets afterwards.

Churros filled with Dulce de leche, with Spanish chocolate sauce and honey nougat ice cream - $16

K's churros were delicious: super fresh fingers of fried dough encasing a gooey Dulce de leche accompanied by Spanish chocolate sauce and honey nougat ice cream. The churros were delightfully crispy, the batter so light, and dipped into the chocolate and ice cream was fantastic.

Hot chocolate pudding with melting chocolate centre, chocolate sauce, and vanilla bean ice cream - $15

My chocolate pudding was simply divine: a large domed crust of chocolate which broke to reveal the gorgeously light pudding underneath. It was light, sweet, and a little savoury. Combined with the vanilla bean ice cream, I was savouring every mouthful.

After such a great lunch, I ventured to the bathroom to surprisingly find that the magnificent decor in the dining room did not stop at the bathroom door; in fact, I think the bathroom even exceeded the dining room! It is so rare to have bathrooms so beautiful and so lovingly looked after, even in the three-hatted restaurants I've visited. The bathroom was dark and lit with some really funky lights attached to the walls, but what really caught my eye was the vanity and hand basins. The vanity was sleek and clean and the basins resembled eyes! These were so unusual and yet so beautiful. There was a small plant in one corner and a scented sticks jar in the other, so as well as visually appealing it was also olfactorily appealing. Kudos to the designer and to the restaurant for not skimping on the most underappreciated area of a restaurant!

Overall, we had a fantastic time. The food was scrumptious, the prices reasonable, and the service generally great. There was a discomforting waiter who gave me a glare when he saw me photographing a few things, but he appeared to be aloof with all the other diners as well, so perhaps it just wasn't me. However, this did not detract from my dining experience and I will be glad to return for dinner one evening to sample more tapas and the paella. Perhaps even as soon as a week's time if a certain Rafa manages to lift the Norman Brooks trophy for the second time. Now that's a great excuse for another Spanish feast!

What we liked: Barcelona meets New York decor, delicious tapas, bathrooms, good service, ambience 

Favourite dish: chicken chorizo and both desserts

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Fast Festival Feasts 2010 - Mad Cow (Steakhouse) - Sydney

With K being in an arm sling for the past six weeks, dining out has been slightly hazardous, made even worse by it being his dominant arm. We have been hitherto restricted to mainly Asian meals (and hence the disproportionately larger number of Asian-slanted posts), even though he did manage successfully an attempt at cutting through a chicken steak at South (post to come); it's amazing what one can do with one arm when the situation calls for it! So, after six weeks of fumbling and bumbling, the sling finally came off two days ago, much to K's delight. And the first port of call? Steak of course!

Mad Cow is one of Merivale's many restaurants, which includes Ash Street Cellar, Teppanaki, and Bistro CBD, all of which are participating in this year's Sydney Festival's Fast Festivals Feast. All of these restaurants are on George Street where the (in)famous Ivy is located, and having never been before, it was quite an experience. The whole area is almost like a conclave, with access from George Street down Palings Lane. What emerges at the end of the laneway is Ash Street, which resembles a street in Paris: alfresco diner (Ash Street Cellar), chic boutique windows, an upmarket hair salon, and the entrance to the Ivy. A few people mill around in their own swanky world, oblivious to the hustle and bustle of the city a street away. Mad Cow is on the first level of a two-storey establishment, and when you reach the top of the stairs, a whole different world unfolds. On this particularly sweltering Friday afternoon, there is a virtual buzz of the trendy and the au courant, with smartly-attired gentlemen and ladies sitting and standing in the courtyard and bar area, sipping their cocktails and fancy European beers, talking, laughing, and unwinding after a busy working week. The world was in slow motion as we snaked around the crowds, the plants, and the water features, trying to find the restaurant.

The restaurant occupies a small corner of the first floor, and is open without a distinct entrance. Even before opening, there are young girls in high heels enquiring about a reservation, and a small queue has steadily formed.

For an unusual name like Mad Cow, the decor is even more incongruous. I didn't know what to expect, but I certainly did not envisage a predominantly pale green and yellow dining room that resembles a casual but chic Parisian ice creamery. There are booths with pale green cushioned seats, white wicker chairs, cast iron tables with marble tops, funky yellow lamps and lights, and a small jungle of pot plant shrubbery; madness there was, but not a cow in sight (well, not until they arrive in steaks to the tables!). Inside the restaurant, we are privy to the visual machinations of the courtyard crowd, but thankfully not the accompanying din.

The large menu is all meat (almost), with mains under the headings of 'The Cow' and 'Not The Cow' (duck, fish, lamb, veal, risotto), and there is a strong selection of entrees, sides, and desserts as well.

Complimentary bread

Based on this particular evening, it seems the Fast Festival Feasts has worked wonders for Mad Cow, as meal after carbon copy meal arrive to the various tables like a procession. It seems that a $30 200g eye fillet is too difficult to pass up, especially as it is normally $42 (though with the choice of two sides whereas this came with fixed sides). Nothing like a cheap steak to woo the customer!

Before and after

When the meal arrived, we were a little underwhelmed with the presentation: a large plate with a deceptively large steak, a small jug of jus, and a wedge of lemon; the two sides of mushrooms and spinach came separately in two square bowls some five minutes after the steak. I don't think anyone was here for the presentation but for the taste, and the eye fillet was for the most part excellent.

The steak was supremely tender (even K's who likes it incinerated, um, I mean well done) and beautifully rested. The steak knife cut into the meat like it was butter, and it was very juicy. Apart from a few uneven pieces which were, in K's words, "chewy", every piece was succulent and melt-in-the-mouth. The shallot thyme jus was nicely flavoured and gave the dish depth, and the mushrooms and buttered spinach were good complements.

Shoestring fries ($6) and sides of creamed spinach and roasted mushrooms

We did order a side of shoestring fries as well, and they were good shoestring fries, nothing more, nothing less.

After polishing off the mains, we eyed the great dessert selection with gusto, even though we had already enjoyed beautiful desserts at lunch as well (oh, the pain!). K had his eye on the banana cream pie with chocolate sorbet, and mine was on the hot valhrona chocolate fondant.

Hot vahlrona chocolate fondant, roast peanut ice cream, honeycomb soil - $18

The fondant was sublime: a warm light-as-air dark chocolate casing which broke to reveal a torrent of rich chocolate sauce. The roast peanut ice cream was rich and spotted with crushed peanuts, honeycomb soil was dotted in a straight line on the plate, and another piece of honeycomb was pinked into the side of the ice cream. The honeycomb was light and sweet, but the large piece in the ice cream was a little too crunchy; I had to take the whole thing and bite bits off it, but I could imagine little crumbs flying all over the place if I had tried to cut it with the fork and spoon! However, the richness and the textures of this dessert was wonderfully indulgent and I loved every bite.

Banana cream pie, chocolate sorbet - $18

K's banana cream pie was unusual but beautifully presented. It was thin slices of caramelised bananas on a thin cream and pastry layer crusted with burnt toffee, and on this circular pie sat a football of chocolate sorbet. I had a small mouthful and liked the contrast of the gooey banana and the crunchy toffee, and the chocolate sorbet was good. K said he liked it but he preferred my dessert.

Overall, Mad Cow is a great casual dining noshery for those who appreciate a great steak. The food is simple but delicous, and there is a wide selection of dishes for everyone, no matter how fussy. The service was efficient, friendly, and attentive, like a well-oiled machine. Our meal lasted a little over an hour, and as we weaved our full bellies through the burgeoning Friday night crowd, we wondered how long it'd be before we would found ourselves back in the grip of Mad Cow fever.

What we liked: casual atmosphere, super steaks, great desserts, good service

Favourite dish: hot vahlrona chocolate fondant

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Yok Yor (Thai) - Darlinghurst

Christmas is great, but Boxing Day is always a bit of a letdown. I know most people want to rest after a day of gorging on food and the company of family and friends, but I'd rather be out and about instead of nursing a sore head and stomach; alas, the day after Christmas is fairly optionless. Besides the two major department stores being open for their nominal sales, most other places are closed, including restaurants. If the day is fine and sunny, the crowds flock to the beach; and if the weather is inclement, the crowds flock to the movie theatres. It is as predictable as a Gordon Ramsay attack on Tracy Grimshaw and just as soporific.

Having loaded up on all the lamb, pork, turkey, and Christmas pudding the day before, we did not feel much like repeating the effort. Finding a restaurant open was not the challenge, as most of Chinatown and Hurstville for example would be open (aren't they always?), but finding one that was non-Chinese was.

Luckily for us, we did not have to search far and wide, as an unprepossessing little Thai noshery in Crown Street at the Darlinghurst end was open. The unusually monikered Yok Yor (thank goodness it's not something generic like Darlinghurst Thai or a groan-inducingly bad pun like Thai Me Up) has been open for a few years in this competitive area. Having dined here three times in the past year, it has already joined Longrain and Chat Thai as one of our favourites. The food is consistently very good with a few standouts, the prices are very reasonable (the most expensive dish on the menu is $25.90), and both the ambience and service is good. They even have a takeaway service.

The decor inside the medium-sized dining space is neat and uncluttered. There are unusual purple umbrella-like lights on one of the walls, and there is a a bamboo-like mosaic piece of artwork which runs along the other. All the walls are dark as are the dining furniture. It is a pleasant place to dine.

Yok Yor's menu is not extensive, but there are ample dishes for all tastes. There are entrees, mini dishes, soups, salads, stir-fried dishes, curries, noodles, and signature dishes. The cuisine is mainly traditional Thai (pad thai, tom yum gai, etc.), but there are a few neat variations (hoi joh, gang hung lay, somtum, etc.).

Not wanting to be too gluttonous, we settle for two entrees, two mains, and a fried rice with egg and shallot.

Hoi joh - a mixture of crab meat and minced pork wrapped in tofu sheet then fried - $6.90

These little rolls were a delight, as they are wrapped in tofu sheets instead of the usual pastry. They were deep-fried to perfection, and each nugget packed in a lot of tasty pork and crab. The dipping sauce provided the sweetness.

Salt & pepper tofu - tofu wok tossed with salt and pepper, spices and crispy herbs and sweet chilli sauce - $8.90

I love salt and pepper dishes, whether they be squid, prawn, soft shell crab, or tofu. These tofu pieces were very light, and although the outside was not as crispy as some, the inside was soft and velvety. The flavours were balanced and I loved the crispy basil showered on top. I actually preferred these without the thick sweet chilli sauce because I enjoy the delicate balance of the salt and pepper.

Poo nim pad pong garee - fried soft shell crab on a bed of yellow curry, baby celery & beaten egg - $17.90

Despite the name beginning with the very tempting word 'poo', I was enticed by the dish's description. The soft shell crab was a big plate of the crab sitting in a pool of curry. Everything was bright orange and looked especially appealing. The crab was flavoursome and had a good crunch, and there were lots of it. We really enjoyed the egg in the curry too.

The soft shell crab normally comes with a plate of man tou (Chinese bread rolls) to mop up the curry, but the waiter tells us that being a public holiday, they were unable to get any. Therefore, they would substitute the man tou with roti instead, which was more than acceptable. The roti was thin and crispier than the ones we've had at Mamak, and I like crispy things. These were delicious and, while not as able to soak up the curry as well as man tou would have, they were really good.

The pork belly was a special but I unfortunately forgot its name or price, sorry! It was almost a month ago and my middle-aged brain is too addled. It was wonderfully presented, with big, thick slices of layered pork sitting in a tangy sauce with hard-boiled eggs and small pieces of tofu. The flavours were excellent and it was an ideal dish to go with the rice.

Fried rice with egg and shallot - $6.90

It's rare I don't order plain jasmine rice when having Thai, but I love Thai fried rice, and this one does not have any meat. I love its beautiful soy flavour and the egg and shallots were very welcome.

What a shame Yok Yor does not have desserts, as I'm sure they would be as successful as their very good entrees and mains. Still, we were cradling our nearly-full stomachs as we walked out the door into the wet evening, so it was probably not a bad thing. Yok Yor is the first international expansion of the famed Bangkok restaurant along the Chaopraya River, and I for one am extremely glad. Its wonderfully priced food, flavours, creativity, and service draws us back time and time again. Even on Boxing Day.

What we liked: scrumptious dishes, friendly and efficient service, affordability 

Favourite dish: hoi joh

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